


In Charge of Weapons and Ammo

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [51]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Tony, Insecure Tony Stark, Kid Tony Stark, Kidnapping, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bucky Barnes, Shovel Talk, Threats, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Winter Soldier is a softy, but for good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7230829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winter Soldier refused to speak to anyone, sitting in the apartment - which was his cell and he knew it no matter how fancy it was dressed up - silently waiting for either an order or for something to stir up enough emotion in him to make him leave. What he gets is a child who won't stop breaking into his room.</p><p>OR</p><p>The one where Bucky is found early and only likes little Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VFive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VFive/gifts).



The Winter Soldier sat in the room. It wasn’t quite a cell, there weren’t bars, it was actually closer to an apartment with a bedroom, kitchenette, and living area. There used to be cameras but the Winter Soldier had destroyed them and no one wanted to be the one to replace them, so the cameras were no more. He had been in the room for two months and apart from daily questions and therapy, no one had given him a mission, so he didn’t bother talking to them. He didn’t talk to anyone. And it was nighttime, so no one would talk to him again until the morning.

The door opened – which was strange because no one tried to talk to the Winter Soldier during the evening and the door was coded with a lock that only a few people knew the code to, so no one should be entering.

However, a little boy entered and slammed the door shut behind him. He was a scrawny thing, the Winter Soldier wanted to say he was three but when the kid turned around he changed his assessment to no more than five, most likely four, his eyes intelligent.

“Hello,” said the boy, blinking up at the Winter Soldier, head cocked to the side. “I’m Tony.”

The Winter Soldier continued to study the boy silently.

“Dad says you’re James Bucky Barnes but you don’t remember,” continued Tony. “He’s mad because you won’t talk to anyone but if you don’t remember who you used to be then maybe you won’t answer because you don’t know they’re talking to you.”

The Winter Soldier furrowed his brow, confused by the little boy standing in front of the door.

“Can I call you Trean?” asked Tony. “It means strong in Irish. I speak Italian ‘cause mom’s Italian but I’m learning Irish because Captain America’s mom was Irish and my dad loves Captain America.”

The Winter Soldier turned away from the boy – Tony – and went back to his bed where he sat down. Tony followed him and stood a few feet away, hands twisting in the hem of his shirt.

“Trean was a stupid idea,” muttered Tony. “Sorry. I’m always coming up with dumb ideas.”

For a long time after that, no one said anything in the room. Tony looked around in interest but didn’t comment and the Winter Soldier just watched, confused as to why the little kid wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. 

“Well, I should go,” said Tony after a while.

The Winter Soldier watched as the young kid went up to the door and jumped several times, pressing the code to leave into the keypad. The door clicked open and Tony slipped back out into the dark hall, leaving the assassin alone once again.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo – 

After that night, Tony made a habit of visiting the Winter Soldier, often coming three or four times a week. It was always at night, always after most children were asleep, and always alone. The Winter Soldier didn’t talk to the kid but that never seemed to deter Tony from talking to him. The kid was smart, far better spoken than most kids, and was not in the least scared of the assassin. The visits came to a head one night, though, when Tony burst into the room in tears, clambering onto the bed to curl into a little ball and cry.

“He hates me,” cried Tony. “I knew he did but he – he said it in front of Uncle Obi and they l-laughed.”

The Winter Soldier sat down next to the kid on his bed and said nothing.

“But – but that’s n-not why I ca-ca-came here,” gasped Tony, sitting up, trying to bring his crying under control. “He smashed his cup on my h-hand and I can’t fix it.”

The Winter Soldier looked down at the small hand being held out to him. It was bleeding heavily, a long jagged gash running down the center of the palm with smaller, less severe cuts along the sides. Tony was still crying but the sobs were missing and his breathing only hitched every minute or so, but the Winter Soldier had nothing to fix the hand with, so he just looked back at Tony.

“Please make it stop,” whispered Tony, quickly pulling out a first aid kit he had dragged in with him.

“I’m not strong,” grunted the Winter Soldier, taking the kit and starting to clean the wound. “I’m destructive. I’m Winter.”

“Whatever Winnie,” said Tony with a ghost of a smile, giggling in that way only small children could at their own not-funny jokes.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

The next time Tony entered the Winter Soldier’s room with an injury, it was a broken arm and it was the middle of the day. The Winter Soldier raised an eyebrow in question at the child.

“Dad’s home,” said Tony, lower lip trembling. “He didn’t find Captain America.”

The Winter Soldier was about to answer when the door to his room burst open again.

“Where are you, you little shit?” demanded Howard Stark, looking a bit drunk and a lot angry. “I saw you come in here.”

The Winter Soldier wrapped his metal arm around Howard’s neck and lifted the man off the ground.

“We’re leaving,” said the Winter Soldier. “Tony’s mine now. Try to take him and I’ll destroy you.”

Howard was a brave man – he had flown over enemy lines multiple times in the war, gone on countless dangerous excursions, faced down raging animals and humans alike, but when the Winter Soldier said he would destroy the millionaire – the tone so soft, emotionless, and devoid of threat – Howard couldn’t nod fast enough.

“Take him,” gasped Howard. “I won’t look for you, just don’t kill me.”

The Winter Soldier threw Howard against the far wall, turned, and picked Tony up, holding the kid on his hip as he walked out of the still open door.

“He’s going to be so mad,” whispered Tony frantically. “Winnie, you have to go back. He’s going to kill me if you leave. He already misses Captain America.”

“Where’s your room?” asked the Winter Soldier.

“Down the hall, two flights up, third door on the right,” recited Tony as if he were reciting his address.

The Winter Soldier took them to Tony’s room and quickly packed a bag of clothes for the kid while Tony waited on the bed, clutching a worn Captain America bear to his chest with his good hand. When the Winter Soldier was done, he came back, bag thrown over his shoulder, and picked Tony up again. They left the mansion through the window and Tony didn’t even look back.


	2. The Offspring

Tony fell asleep while the Winter Soldier ran through the countryside. The kid wasn’t heavy but the Winter Solder didn’t like having his arms laden with the kid – he might need his arms to eliminate an enemy – so he took the blanket the kid had been clutching and used it to fashion a back pack of sorts and strapped the child to his chest that way. Content that his arms were free to move and that the child was still asleep, the small mop of brown hair resting against his chest, the Winter Soldier continued his trek through the area.

The hospital was several miles away but it was nearly evening by the time they arrived, so it wasn’t as bus as it could have been. The Winter Soldier marched right up to the nearest doctor and slipped Tony out of the carrier, waking the kid in the process.

“Fix him,” demanded the Winter Soldier, holding Tony out to the doctor.

“Sir, you need to speak to the receptionist, check in, fill out the proper paperwork,” began the doctor.

“Fix. Him.” growled the Winter Soldier, this time flashing his metal arm in the florescent lights, using every intimidation technique he knew to get the doctor to do as he wanted.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the doctor, gulping. “But –“

“My father is Howard Stark,” said Tony, speaking for the first time. “Do you want him to pull funding because he refused to fix his only son?”

The doctor blinked, sighed, and gestured for them to follow him to the x-ray room. Tony smirked back at the Winter Soldier.

“I’ve always wanted to say that,” whispered Tony. “Dad says it all the time when he wants his way.”

The doctor easily set the arm and wrapped it in a cast. When he left to get a new nurse in hopes that paper work would finally get filled out, the Winter Soldier picked Tony back up and walked out of the hospital.

“Where are we going?” asked Tony, yawning a bit at the pain medicine. “Dad’s going to be so mad.”

The Winter Soldier said nothing. He eyed the cars in the parking lot and picked on that was black, about ten years old, and plucked Tony in the passenger seat, wiring it to start and driving calmly out of the parking lot.

“Where are we going?” asked Tony again, peering out the window.

“Brooklyn,” said the Winter Soldier.

“Does my dad know?” asked Tony.

“No.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“No.”

Tony nodded to himself and turned thoughtful.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

Tony was seven and in the fourth grade when he came home from school with a black eye. The Winter Soldier had opened a bakery several blocks from the school and he and Tony lived in the apartment above it. The child was brilliant and could fix anything, which came in handy at the bakery when the oven broke.

When the kid entered the shop, the Winter Soldier raised an eyebrow in question at the bruise.

“Johnny wanted me to do his homework,” pouted Tony, throwing his bag down behind the counter and climbing on a chair to let the Winter Soldier inspect the bruise and check him for other injuries. “I told him I wouldn’t, not because I don’t want to – he was going to pay me – but because I can’t make my work sound as dumb as him and the teacher would know. He punched me.”

The Winter Soldier handed the kid some ice and resisted the urge to smile.

“Winnie, it’s parent night at school,” said Tony after an hour when he was done with his homework and the extra math work he had for his higher math classes – the kid was smart enough to have skipped another few grades but the Winter Soldier didn’t want him in classes with people that much older just yet. “We have to be there in a half hour.”

The Winter Soldier nodded.

“Can I have a cookie?”

“No,” said the Winter Soldier.

Tony pouted but didn’t try to grab a cookie.

The Winter Soldier and Tony walked together back to Tony’s school and into the old building. There were parents and children everywhere milling about, talking and laughing, some grumbling about having to be at the school after a long day of work – which Tony thought was a dumb thing to complain about because he doubted the teachers wanted to be there after their long day of work too. 

“Winnie, that’s Johnny,” hissed Tony, pointing at a large boy with blonde hair. 

Johnny was a bit overweight, his flab spilling over his pants like a frozen waterfall. He was standing next to a man who was also on the large side and a lady who was shaped like a pear. When Johnny saw Tony, he pointed at the small boy and said something to the large man who Tony assumed was his father. Tony would never admit it but Johnny scared him a bit; he still remembered getting hit by his dad and Johnny reminded Tony of Howard in more ways than one. But being smaller, younger, and smarter, Tony didn’t want to show that fear – Johnny and others would just take advantage.

“Excuse me,” said the large man, approaching the Winter Soldier and Tony, chest puffed out importantly.

The Winter Soldier stood still and waited.

“Are you this kid’s father?” demanded the man. “I’m Brian Jones and my son Johnny had been telling me that your boy is giving him a hard time at school.”

“I’m seven,” said Tony, gaining Mr. Jones’s attention. “I’m in Johnny’s class and he’s a bully.”

“You might want to muzzle your offspring,” said Mr. Jones disdainfully. 

That was the wrong thing to say.

The Winter Soldier punched Mr. Jones with his metal arm, hard enough that the heavy man went flying back into the cream lockers several feet behind him. Several people screamed. The Winter Soldier crouched down in front of the downed man.

“Next time you speak about my kid that way I will snap your neck but keep you alive so you can live your life as the useless blob you are,” said the Winter Soldier tonelessly.

The Winter Soldier rose, took Tony’s hand, and walked with the boy to his classroom as if nothing had happened.

“That was so cool!” gushed Tony, jumping around the Winter Soldier excitedly. “You totally hit that guy!”

“Sit down, everyone,” said the teacher, an older man called Mr. Green.

The parents took seats at the desks, some of the children joined them, some sat on the floor, some stood at the back. Tony climbed into the Winter Soldier’s lap and started inspecting the metal hand for any damage the punch may have caused. The kid had noticed that recently a few of the joints were grinding and sticking a bit and he hoped the punch hadn’t made it worse. Mr. Green spoke for an hour about what the students would be learning during the year, what was expected of them, and then dismissed everyone.

“Mr. Barnes, would you please remain behind for a few minutes?” asked Mr. Green, sounding as tired as he looked.

The Winter Soldier and Tony stayed in the room while everyone else filed out, most throwing smug looks at the pair, sure they were about to get their punishment for punching another parent.

“I understand that you hit Mr. Jones shortly before the meeting,” said Mr. Green. “Can you explain to me why?”

“Winnie only did it ‘cause Mr. Jones told him to muzzle me,” said Tony before the Winter Soldier could speak. “Mr. Jones was mad ‘cause I wouldn’t do Johnny’s homework for him and Johnny probably told him that I called him dumb – because he is dumb but that’s not the point – and then Mr. Jones was mean and Winnie punched him and now we’re here.”

“Look,” sighed Mr. Green, running a hand over his face. “We’re not doing this. You, Mr. Barnes, the next time you hit another parent we will press charges. And you, Mr. Barnes the younger, don’t provoke the older kids. Now please, both of you leave so I can go home.”

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

Howard Stark died when Tony was 17. Tony had graduated from MIT and had no idea he was still the sole heir to the Stark empire until he was kidnapped on a backpacking trip through Europe. And wasn’t that just the worst timing – Winnie was never going to let him go overseas alone again.

For three weeks Tony lived in a cave. He knew who had kidnapped him – that bald bastard Obadiah Stane. His captors didn’t speak English but there was no translation for Obi’s name and quite frankly Tony was still a genius. The only person who stood to gain from his disappearance was Obadiah Stane. The rest of the world knew he existed but Howard had fed them all some bullshit story about sending Tony to live with family so the kid could have a normal childhood away from the press. No one really expected Tony to come back into the lime light. Tony didn’t want to go back into the lime light.

“I really don’t think you understand,” said Tony yet again when the men finished beating him. “I don’t know how to build any weapons!”

There was some screaming in a language that Tony wished he had learned – at least then he would know what they wanted exactly – then they brought out the water again and Tony started to tremble.

He hated the water.

“Winnie!” screamed Tony as foreign hands yanked him forward.

Gunshots rang out in the cave, the hands dropped Tony, who fell to the floor and crawled for cover like Winnie had taught him. Shots were still being fired when Tony finally reached a boulder.

“Shit,” whispered Tony to himself. “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”

The shots stopped echoing around the enclosed space but Tony refused to look around yet, just in case whoever was still alive was a little trigger happy and shot him for moving.

“Are you injured?” asked the gruff voice of the only person Tony wanted to see in that moment.

“Winnie?” said Tony, peaking his head out of his arms slightly to check.

The Winter Soldier was kneeling in front of him, looking Tony over, gun poised to shoot anyone who moved who wasn’t the young genius. For three weeks the Winter Soldier had been scouring the planet looking for his boy until finally he found the proof on the Stark Industries servers – Tony enjoyed hacking them for fun just to see what was going on – killed Obadiah, then tracked down Tony. It had been a stressful three weeks.

“I want to go home,” admitted Tony, avoiding the questions about injuries, his face crumpling now that the Winter Soldier was with him. 

The Winter Soldier nodded, reached down, scooped up the kid he had claimed so many years before, and left the cave, easily killing anyone who tried to stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.....I did the that thing where I planned the story to be two chapters and then wrote the story and now it's going to be three.....hope no one minds!
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


	3. And Then Some

When they returned to the bakery, Tony locked himself in the basement where he and Winnie had set up a small garage of sorts. Over the years Tony had collected bits of different cars and machines, sometimes to rebuild them, sometimes to improve them, most of the time because they were cheap, broken, and he wanted the parts.

“Good to have you back, Sir,” said JARVIS, the AI Tony had built in college who lived on his computer.

“New project,” said Tony in way of greeting, aware that Winnie was standing near the stairs watching him. Tony had grown up with the man watching him, so he mostly ignored it. “I want to build a suit.”

“Shall I order the correct fabric?” asked JARVIS.

“No, I want to build a suit of armor,” said Tony. “Pull up the schematics for the medieval suits as well as body armor. Really just give me everything you’ve got on suits and I’ll take what I like.”

As JARVIS worked with the new internet and references Tony had spent countless hours scanning into his data bases, Tony turned to his hacking computer – he kept all his projects off of that one in case anyone ever figured out how to trace a hack back to him – and broke into Stark Industries, downloading all files on the arc reactor technology.

“Winnie, I need to get my hands on these,” said Tony, turning the screen to the Winter Soldier. “What do you say to paying a visit to my new empire?”

“No making people call you Supreme Overlord of the Universe,” said the Winter Soldier, stepping aside and following his kid back out to the world.

“Spoil sport,” mumbled Tony.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

“Rhodey!” Tony all but squealed, launching himself at his best friend, ignoring how his business suit was getting wrinkled.

“Hey kiddo,” laughed Rhodey, hugging Tony back and nodding at the Winter Soldier. “I missed you too.”

“I didn’t know you were coming back so soon,” said Tony, letting go and sticking his head out of his office. “Pepper, I’m leaving! Don’t let anyone call me.”

“I’m still not your personal assistant, Mr. Stark,” said Pepper Potts, rolling her eyes at the twenty-three year old. “I’m not even your secretaries secretary. Just because you don’t like Ryan, your real personal assistant, doesn’t mean you get to pick me. I have my own job to do.”

“I like her,” said Rhodey, grinning at Tony evilly before turning to the red head. “I’m James Rhodes. Tony calls me Rhodey.”

“Virginia Potts,” said the red head, holding out her hand. “Mr. Stark calls me Pepper.”

“He also calls you his personal assistant, Ryan quit yesterday, you’re promoted,” said Tony. “So you should be introducing yourself as Pepper Potts, personal assistant to Tony Stark.”

“Pepper Potts, personal assistant to Tony Stark,” said Pepper with an eye roll.

“James Rhodes, newest liaison for the military for Stark Industries,” said Rhodey.

“What?” yelled Tony.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

Tony and the Winter Soldier stood in the observation room, watching Steve Rogers, Captain America, sleep in the old time room. Neither spoke. Tony was twenty-three and remembered when he dad had spent his time comparing Tony to the sleeping man and always finding his son wanting. The Winter Soldier, in turn, knew that he used to be friends with the man in the bed. The Winter Soldier knew his real name was Bucky Barnes, that he used to be a soldier in World War II, that he had been captured, altered, and brain washed into a weapon by HYDRA. He had memories of his time before becoming the Winter Soldier but they felt like things from the movies; he had no emotional attachment to those memories. Indeed, the only emotional attachment he had at all was to Tony.

“I can’t believe we found him,” said Tony softly.

When Tony had first discovered that Howard had continued looking for Steve Rogers, the genius had been furious. After a while, though, he started up the project again, wanting to find the soldier if only to spite his father’s memory one last time. Now, however, Steve Rogers was not only located but also alive, Tony hadn’t accounted for what to do after he found the man.

“Hey Winnie,” said Tony, looking up at the Winter Soldier. “Are you going to hang out with Steve now instead of me?”

The Winter Soldier knew that Tony was really asking if he was going to start acting like Howard now that Steve was back. 

In way of answering, the Winter Soldier wrapped his arm around the younger man and steered them both out of the room.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you,” sneered Steve, glaring down at Tony.

They were fighting again. They were always fighting, it felt like. Tony hated it, he found Steve very attractive but the older man had no interest in him. He kept comparing Tony to Howard and found Tony wanting and it was starting to give Tony a complex. He almost wanted to complain to Winnie about it but so far Steve didn’t know about Bucky Barnes being alive, so Tony said nothing, because if Winnie knew he would be pissed that someone was hurting his kid.

Tony had noticed when he was younger that Winnie had claimed him and would refer to him as ‘my kid’ more often than ‘Tony’. It was cute when he was little but Tony was almost twenty-four and didn’t need a keeper anymore, thank you very much.

“Steven Grant Rogers,” growled the Winter Soldier, stepping out of the supply closet where he had been watching Tony.

“What?” said Steve, his face draining of color, eyes wide as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Bucky?”

“Apologize to my kid,” demanded the Winter Soldier.

“Now you’ve done it,” sighed Tony dramatically.

“You’re alive,” said Steve, his gaze still riveted on his old best friend. “You have a kid?”

“Winnie, come on, I told you to stop following me,” said Tony, stepping up and pushing the Winter Soldier in the chest, trying to move him back. “I’m fine.”

“We’re in the middle of an alien invasion,” said the Winter Soldier. “Like hell I’m leaving you alone.”

“Whatever,” said Tony, rolling his eyes. “Look, we don’t have time for this. Steve, this is Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier. Yes, he’s alive. Fun fact – we found him first. Now we can get to freaking out after we save the world. Winnie, no killing Steve.”

“Steve, stop being an asshole,” said the Winter Soldier before marching out, dragging Tony with him to get the kid in his suit.

\- In Charge of Weapons and Ammo –

When Steve finally asked Tony out on a date four months after the Battle of New York, Tony was ecstatic. He changed his outfit seven times before settling on dark jeans and a band shirt. The Winter Soldier watched him patiently while he baked. Tony owned the tower that was being redone and he could live in it but Tony spent more nights at the bakery with the Winter Soldier than anywhere else. 

The doorbell rang.

“He’s here!” said Tony. “He’s here! Okay, Winnie, no following. We like Steve, we don’t want to scare Steve away like everyone else.”

The Winter Soldier said nothing and watched as Tony ran to get the door. Steve greeted Tony, nodded at the Winter Soldier, and lead Tony out to the car.

They ended up at a small diner. Tony was having a great time, Steve was funny when he stopped being a dick and seemed genuinely interested in Tony’s projects. After they ordered desert, Tony went to the restroom. Steve watched him walk away with a little grin.

“If you hurt him I will cut off your dick and feed it to you before I slit your throat,” said the Winter Soldier, sliding into the booth across from Steve.

“Where did you come from?” demanded Steve. “I thought Tony said you were busy baking.”

“Like I’m going to let my kid go out without supervision,” growled the Winter Soldier. “:ast time he got kidnapped.”

“I’m not going to hurt him,” said Steve. “I really like him, Bucky.”

“I like him more than I like you,” said the Winter Soldier. “Tell him I was here and I will kick your ass.”

Before Steve could respond, the Winter Soldier was gone again. Tony returned not even a minute later and slid into the booth across from Steve. The genius took one look at Steve and groaned.

“Winnie!” yelled Tony, standing up and glaring around. “Winnie get out here right now.”

The Winter Soldier stepped out from behind the counter.

“We talked about this,” said Tony. “Now apologize to Steve.”

“No.”

“Apologize to Steve.”

“No.”

“Please,” whispered Tony, looking sad.

The Winter Soldier eyed Tony then turned to Steve.

“Sorry Steve,” grumbled the Winter Soldier.

“Thank you,” said Tony, hugging the Winter Soldier quickly. “Now I will see you at home. At least leave the building so we can both pretend that you aren’t insane.”

The Winter Soldier glared at Steve once more before walking out.

“That was terrifying,” said Steve.

“Don’t worry about him,” said Tony. “He’s just a big softly. Trust me, you haven’t seen him when I’ve been sick. You should have seen him when I was five and got pneumonia.”

Steve laughed but flinched when he saw the Winter Soldier glaring at him through the window across the street, Tony blissfully unaware of his overprotective assassin shadow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! All done! This might need it's own series because I feel like it needs more stories. 
> 
> Always,  
> Ari

**Author's Note:**

> I should be packing up because I'm moving soon but instead I wrote this because I really liked the prompt and I like little Tony.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
